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MONDALE FOR PRESIDENT 

[[image - photograph of Mr. Mondale with four people]]

[[image - photograph of Mr. Mondale shaking hands in group]]

[[image - photograph of five men]]

Dear Friend:

Ronald Reagan and his political strategists are betting that you won't find out.
 
With their slick public relations approach to the Presidency they bet that they can keep you and millions of other Americans in the dark this election year. In the dark about how this Administration is mortgaging our future, and our children's future, to achieve a few expedient, short-term political goals.
  
Ronald Reagan's political operatives have planned a year full of rosy economic forecasts and press conferences justifying the Administration's enormous military buildup.
  
All of this is intended to mask how Ronald Reagan's radical policies are changing America. Changing our nation in fundamental ways which few Americans would support if they knew the facts - not just the Reagan myths. Like these:

  
Reagan Myth: We are ensuring our national security and advancing nuclear arms control by "showing strength" and winning the arms race.
  
Fact: U.S. and Soviet arms control negotiations have never been at a worse point. Arms talks have broken off with no date for resumption. The U.S. is deploying a new round of weapons in Europe and the Soviets are planning a new round of nuclear weapons of their own. The threat of nuclear was 
is growing each day.

Reagan Myth: The Administration seeks responsible federal budgeting by reducing spending and cutting out waste.

Fact: The Reagan Administration has severely cut social programs, but at the same time it is spending wildly in the area of defense - faster than the Pentagon can wisely use the billion dollars it spends every weekday - leading to enormous waste and poor strategic planning.

Reagan Myth: Our economy is recovering, people are going back to work and we are on our way to long-term economic health.

Fact: The enormous federal budget deficits, estimated to reach up to $200 billion a year, are threatening our economic future, keeping interest rates high, saddling our children with an impossible debit in years to come and placing U.S. products at an enormous trade disadvantage.

Reagan Myth: The President is simply a fair-minded man who wants only to curb government excesses while maintaining essential services and programs.

Fact: Ronald Reagan has been carrying out an unprecedented campaign to slash government assistance to the truly needy (the poor,the elderly, the handicapped), roll back 20 years of environmental gains, undermine civil rights
enforcement and open up brazen new tax shelters for the rich.

Worst of all, Ronald Reagan is implementing most of these radical programs in relative secrecy - requiring government officials to sign censorship agreements, escalating the classification of government documents and undermining the Freedom of Information Act.
  
Ronald Reagan hopes this muzzle on the free flow of information to the public, coupled with a well-orchestrated public relations campaign, will leave the voters in the dark about the long-term implications of these programs.

The facts are frightening. And with four more years of this Administration, the damage to American society and to world peace will be lasting.

You see, Ronald Reagan is pursuing these ill-conceived, radical policies because he does not understand America or the world. Whether he is well-intentioned or not, Ronald Reagan is leading us down a dangerous path at home and abroad that will take years and years to correct.

But I believe that if enough American citizens know the facts, all the facts, they will make the right decision in 1984 and vote Ronald Reagan out of office. 

I am writing to you today to ask for your help in getting these facts out to America.  Facts about the future with Ronald Reagan and facts about an alternative.

We must expose Ronald Reagan's plan for America and provide a specific alternative for the future.  The future I am proposing is based on the values I learned while growing
up. Values I think that you share.

For me, those values are what I call my moral compass.  I believe in the old-fashioned idea that there is still a difference between right and wrong. To me, this country is special.  There's no nation on earth quite like America when we stand for our best.

America means many things. It means fairness, not favoritism. It means decency. It also means self-reliance and independence, but with the understanding that problems can overwhelm the best of us. I want an America that reaches out to lighten our neighbor's burden, to provide a cushion against illness, unemployment and the problems of the elderly.

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